National

Guwahati, October 7: The security wall of around 15 websites of various government departments, including Assam Police, have been breached and their home pages defaced by unknown hackers.

"Around 10-15 government websites have been hacked and the home pages were defaced. All sites were hosted by NIC," Additional Director General of Police (CID) Mukesh Sahay said.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) was currently conducting a technical inquiry into the breach as it may be due to various reasons, he said.

"If the technical report points out at any criminal activity into the incident, then we will register a criminal case and enquire it accordingly. We are yet to receive the report," Sahay said.

The NIC has not lodged any official complaint yet with the police and was repairing the websites currently to plug the security issue, he added.

When asked about reports that Pakistani hackers could have brought down the sites, Sahay said, "Cyber space is without any boundary. A hacker may be in one country, but his server may be in another country. So, it is very difficult to say about the origin without the technical investigation. We will be able to tell it only after the NIC report."

Some of the important sites that were hit in recent days were of the Assam Police, Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission and Directorate of Elementary Education.